Fascinating Knowledge of Questionable Value

Category Archives: The World

In 2011, Chris Jeon was a 21-year old UCLA student from an affluent Orange County neighborhood. A brilliant student and dedicated mathematics major, Chris had his eyes set on a lucrative summer internship at the largest asset management firm in the world – a position that would catapult him into the career in finance that he had always dreamed of. But by the end of the summer, Chris would find himself not sitting in a cubicle, but fighting alongside Libyan rebels in their revolution against Muammar Gaddafi.

This is the story of one of the most epic and unlikely summer breaks ever.

We live in an age of habitual line-steppers and one-uppers. Bigger, better, more, crazier, more creative, so on and so forth. Despite what my tone may suggest, most of the time the result is pretty freaking awesome. Recent history gives us a few cases in point: The renewed battle to build the world’s tallest skyscraper between the US, China, Dubai; The space race between the US and the Soviets; and the pissing contest between Paul Allen, Larry Ellison and other billionaires to build the world’s coolest/largest yacht. The topic of this post is no different – some habitual line steppers have really outdone themselves here. So without further ado, we give to you the five most over-the-top diamond encrusted items in the world (as if diamond encrusted anything wasn’t over the top already…)

Most of us are aware that population growth is a problem, and we are familiar with population control techniques employed by governments and suggested by economists and doctors to limit the dangers of overpopulation. Case in point: China employs an infamous one child policy that limits urban couples to having one child. This is part of the reality of the world we live in today – population is growing at an astronomical rate, and this growth has caused grave concern the world over about the Earth’s ability to support the continued addition of humans across the globe. Alas, that is a topic for a different post on a different day.

The point is, overpopulation is a very recent concern and development. Not so long ago, the bigger someone’s family was, the better. When society was mostly rural and agrarian, more children meant more bodies to help around the house, raise crops, go hunting, etc. As we moved from the country to the city thanks to the Industrial Revolution, large families became less important as an economic tool and transitioned to be more of an economic burden. However, it appears this memo was never received in good old post-World War II Soviet Russia. Continue reading →

If you have been on more than a few flights in your lifetime then you know how much of a mess some airports can be. Confusing layouts, long security lines, awkward gift shops and restaurants that I wouldn’t eat at for free. Luckily, airports are as varied and diverse as the cities they serve – and some of them are awesome. This list covers neither the good nor the bad but instead some of the most strange.

… just sound like they have to be awesome, does it not? Well thankfully, these artists do not disappoint. Kinetic light sculptures are awe-inspiringly beautiful works that essentially look like your iTunes visualizer playing out right in front of you. If you are a fan of hallucinogenic drugs, you are going to want to save your money for one of these.